International Football History and Statistics

On this day in football history

• 1958 Just Fontaine scored 4 goals for France against West Germany in the match for third place in the World Cup finals in Sweden. This brought his total for the final stages to 13. Unfortunately he had to give up the game within a couple of seasons after breaking his leg twice.
• 1963 Bill McGarry, player-manager of Bournemouth was appointed manager of Watford. A Port Vale discovery, he entered League football with them in 1946 and was transferred to Huddersfield Town in March 1951. Whilst at Huddersfield he was regarded as one of the best wing halves in the game but only made 4 appearances for England between 1954-56, chiefly because of the brilliance of Wright and Dickinson. Took the Bournemouth job in March 1961. During a playing career which lasted from 1946 to the summer of 1963 he turned out in 586 League matches. He was released from his Watford contract after a short spell to become manager of Ipswich Town in succession to Jackie Milburn.
• 1994 Thh Republic of Ireland qualify for the second stage of the World Cup Finals for the first time. They qualify with Italy from their group eliminating Mexico and Norway.
• 1995 Wales sack manager Mike England after a poor qualifying campaign for the 1996 European Championships.
• 2000 Venezuela scored their first goals and won their first points in World Cup qualifiers when they beat Bolivia 4-2.